Trevor Harris had to wash off a layer of frustration immediately after Saturday’s loss to the Argos.

“I’m going to take a shower first,” the RedBlacks quarterback told the media waiting around his locker room for post-game comments. “I need to calm down.”

No wonder.

The Redblacks had a firm grip on their first win of the season when it slipped through their hands … not just once or twice, but three times during a single play in the third quarter of Saturday’s 26-25 loss.

Holding a 12-1 lead with a second and 15 play from the Ottawa 32-yard line, Harris only got a finger or two on the shotgun snap sent his way. When he chased the loose ball down and fell on it, the thing squirted out from underneath him. It was then recovered by the Argos’ Cassius Vaughn, who rambled a few yards before he fumbled. This time Redblacks receiver Dominique Rhymes took control, but he too lost the ball, in the end zone.

At the bottom of the ensuing scrum, Toronto’s Rico Murray was clinging on to what would be a touchdown that turned the tide. From being in control, the Redblacks would soon fall behind on a great Ricky Ray-to-S.J. Green hook up.

“We just had miscommunication,” Harris said. “It’s frustrating. It’s frustrating but it is what it is. We all made our mistakes tonight.”

They had a chance to at least pull even again, and perhaps send set the stage for overtime, after a spectacular haul by Greg Ellingson.

But that opportunity slipped through their fingers as well.

In his first significant moment as a Redblacks QB, veteran backup Drew Tate, was unable to catch the snap on the convert attempt. If the ball was in fact put to him in a less than ideal location, Tate still should have had the poise and ability to grab it and get it down.

Instead, he dove on the bouncing leather, and no attempt was made to tie the game.

The Redblacks did have a couple of late possessions that they were unable to convert before the clock ran out on them, including a 59-year field goal attempt on the last play of the game.

Now, after dropping a 26-25 decision to the Argos, they sit 0-2-1 when they could be 3-0.

Now, after letting victory slip through their hands once again and during a ridiculously busy part of the schedule, they could find themselves in some serious early season trouble.

“It’s not like we lost the game and we’re just screwed because we’re not good enough,” Harris said. “We have a great team in this locker room and there’s a ton of football left.”

FROM THE HASHMARKS

The Redblacks had all sorts of help getting to the end zone first, as the Argos took dumb penalty after dumb penalty right out of the gate. They were flagged for unnecessary roughness on their initial punt return. They were called for two fouls on their first offensive snap. And they were tricked — at least linebacker Marcus Ball was — on an Ottawa third-and-two gamble when Harris’ only intention was to draw them offside ... The Argos took seven penalties before the Redbacks were guilty of their first, but one of the flags against Toronto was particularly irksome to those of us who hate that in the CFL, coaches can challenge that there was pass interference when the men in stripes didn’t see it. After being reviewed as 24,347 customers waited breathlessly for the decision of the command centre in Toronto, it was decided that linebacker Bear Woods did impede the stride of Brad Sinopoli. One play and about five minutes later, Harris hit Mossis Madu Jr. for a four-yard TD and the flow of the game was restored.

SECOND AND LONG:

A total of 37,746 pounds of groceries was raised for the Ottawa Food Bank in Purolater’s Tackle Hunger program. Good going people ... Wasn’t there supposed to be a threat of rain Saturday? The game was played under a near-cloudless sky, and while Southsiders baked in the sun for most of the first half, those of us sitting above them had to squint to see the screens on our laptops. If you spot a typo on either of these two pages, you can assume when it was written ... Madu Jr. looked like he should have been participating in the Canadian Track and Field Championships down the street the way he tried to jump over a couple of Argos defenders in the second quarter.

SIDELINE TO SIDELINE

Redblacks receiver Kenny Shaw watched the game against his old team on crutches from the sidelines. The former Argo was placed on the six-game injury list after the home opener two weeks ago. Clearly, he still has a lot of rehabbing to do ... Only because former Bears head coach Marc Trestman is now the sideline boss of the Argos can I get away with writing this note: Ex-Bears D-lineman Dan (The Danimal) Hampton says if the ’85 Bears had Jay Cutler as quarterback, they would have won four Super Bowls. Presumably, not all of them in ’86 ... When you see how good the Redblacks’ Ellingson is, remember that he was given nothing more than a brief free-agent audition by the Bears last winter. It speaks to the difference between the talent levels in the two leagues when one of the best receivers on the Grey Cup champions isn’t deemed worthy of an invite to camp by one of the worst teams in the NFL.

AT THE BREAK

There wasn’t much separating the two QBs in the first half, as Ricky Ray had completed 13-of-19 for 145 yards while Harris was good on 15-of-19 for 148 ... The Redblacks offence had the ball for 18:30 of the opening 30 minutes.

QUICK SNAPS

New to the playbook of an Ottawa football team is the type of quick-kick Sinopoli attempted in the fourth quarter with the first down marker so far away. Had it worked, the play would have been ingenious. Instead, it was a botched rugby-like move ... Gotta like the nickname given to the Argos defence — The Dreaded ‘D’. Six of the 12 starters wear dreadlocks ... Honoured during a play stoppage in the second half was Robert Goulet. A proud member of the Canadian Armed Forces, not the late American singer ...Scouting the game was Mike McCarthy, whose lengthy CFL resume includes the GM title in both Ottawa and Toronto. McCarthy, one of our favourites, is now the director of football operations for Major League Football, a soon-to-start-up spring time, eight-team development league that will be based in Florida and comprised of teams only in the U.S. McCarthy’s bio says he’s now 64 years old, but nobody would guess it by looking at him.

THE POINT AFTER

Nobody would have been concerned that the Redblacks lost Chris Williams to free agency if only Marcel Desjardins would have said he was replacing him with Diontae Spencer. As it looks now, they’ve upgraded in the trade-off ... Further fuel for those who mock the Canadian game presented itself when Argos placekicker Lirim Hajrullahu missed a 35-yard field goal but still scored the visitors’ only first-half point when the Redblacks couldn’t run the ball out of the end zone ... When the Redblacks were driving the field, trailing by seven late in the fourth quarter, did you not expect the second overtime in two TD Place games this season? And did you also fear for the second tie?

Redblacks literally let win slip through their fingers

Trevor Harris had to wash off a layer of frustration immediately after Saturday’s loss to the Argos.

“I’m going to take a shower first,” the RedBlacks quarterback told the media waiting around his locker room for post-game comments. “I need to calm down.”

No wonder.

The Redblacks had a firm grip on their first win of the season when it slipped through their hands … not just once or twice, but three times during a single play in the third quarter of Saturday’s 26-25 loss.

Holding a 12-1 lead with a second and 15 play from the Ottawa 32-yard line, Harris only got a finger or two on the shotgun snap sent his way. When he chased the loose ball down and fell on it, the thing squirted out from underneath him. It was then recovered by the Argos’ Cassius Vaughn, who rambled a few yards before he fumbled. This time Redblacks receiver Dominique Rhymes took control, but he too lost the ball, in the end zone.